


We Had a Date

by mlbk53



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 13:15:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19906294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlbk53/pseuds/mlbk53
Summary: Karen visits Joyce after losing Hopper.





	We Had a Date

“Hey Will, El, Jonathan,” Karen Wheeler greeted as she welcomed the make-shift siblings into her home. She invited them over to dinner to give Joyce a break and to try to lift El’s spirits with her friends. “Mike, Max, and the boys are in the basement, so El and Will, you guys can head down there.”

As Will and El made their way to the Wheelers’ basement, Jonathan turned to Karen and mumbled, “Uh. Where’s Nancy?”

“I’ll call her down, but I just wanted to ask you something without the two young ones nearby.”

Jonathan shuffled his feet nervously and put his hands in his pockets. “Uh. Sure.”

“How’s your mom?” Karen asked sympathetically.

Jonathan gave the response he tells everyone who has asked him that question the past week, “She’s hanging in there.”

Karen tilted her head as to say “Tell the truth.”

Jonathan shook his head. “Not good. She’s a wreck.”

Karen placed her hand on her chest. “How bad is it?”

“She.. She tries to stay strong, especially for El. But I know she cries at night. In the shower. She’s barely hanging in there,” Jonathan replied solemnly.

Karen reached out and patted his arm. “Thank you, Jonathan, for telling me. I really appreciate it. Nancy’s up in her room. Go on up.”

Jonathan nodded and headed up stairs.

Karen quickly went to the kitchen to grab her purse and keys. She stopped in the living room and saw Ted sitting in his Lazy-Boy watching television. “Ted, I need to go out for a bit. I’ll be back before dinner. Mike and his friends are in the basement. Nancy and Jonathan are upstairs, as is Holly. Just keep an eye and an ear open for her, will you?”

“Yeah,” Ted grumbled with Karen not even sure he heard anything she said.

Karen rolled her eyes and walked out the door.

* * *

Joyce was sitting on her bedroom floor crying as she was planning Hopper’s funeral. Owens said he would cover all the expenses, but Joyce didn’t care. She was picking out a casket for it to be empty. She had to prepare two eulogies, one from herself and helping El with hers. Joyce tried to be strong in front of the kids, especially El, but when the leave the house, she breaks down. She sits on her floor and holds one his flannels in her arms and just sobs. As she was crying, she heard someone knocking at her door. She got up, looked in her mirror to wipe any stray tears, and made her way to the front of her house. Joyce was praying that it wasn’t some old biddy with a casserole and a frown. She couldn’t take one more pity look.

“Karen!” Joyce said surprisingly.

“Hey, Joyce. May I come in?” Karen asked.

“Sure, sure,” Joyce replied as she moved aside to allow Karen in.

As Karen put her purse on the sofa, Joyce questioned, “Are the kids okay? Is El okay?”

“They’re fine. I promise.”

Joyce’s eyebrows furrowed. “If the kids are fine, then why are you here?”

“I came to see how you are,” Karen replied with a sad smile.

Joyce wiped her nose as she sniffled. “I’m fine, Karen. Really.”

“Really, Joyce? You have red cheeks, watery eyes, and you are sniffling like someone does after they cry,” Karen retorted following Joyce to the kitchen.

Joyce’s jaw clenched as she turned to Karen. “I’m fine. Drop it,” Joyce warned.

“Joyce…”

Joyce tried avoiding Karen by leaving the kitchen and heading back to the living room. 

“Joyce, you have a small house. You can’t run away from me.”

“Karen, I can’t and I won’t talk about this with you. So, either drop it or leave,” Joyce pleaded as she plopped on her couch with her arms crossed like a petulant child.

Karen waltzed over towards the couch and sat next to Joyce. She placed her hand on Joyce’s shoulder tenderly. “Joyce, I’ve known you since we were five years old. We were best friends. I know when you are hurting. Jim’s death is killing you,” Karen whispered.

“We haven’t been friends in years, Karen. You are only cordial with me because our sons are friends,” Joyce argued.

“Joyce, I know I haven’t been a good friend to you in forever. But, I still know you. I know how much you cared for him. God, Joyce, I remember when you climbed up my tree when we were in sixth grade and you knocked on my window at like ten at night. You told me you and Jim just kissed. I remember you being so nervous going on your first date with him. Your first time, Joyce. We sat in my room for hours discussing whether you were ready or not. And then afterwards, you came over my house and told me everything. I honest to God thought you and Jim would have gotten married the second after we got our diplomas. Him dying is killing you, Joyce. I see the way you are hiding from the outside world, trying to avoid anyone who wants to help you. You were that way after your dad died. I-”

Joyce interrupted, “Shut up! You know the old me. You know the old Jim. You know nothing about me now. You have no idea what mine and Hop’s relationship was like. You know nothing about Hopper. Nothing. You want to know why?”

“Why?” Karen replied.

“Because you and everyone else in the goddamn town think Hop and I are, or in Hop’s case were, crazy. Lonnie was a bastard who hit me and I let him keep coming back home. But the moment he laid a finger on Will, I broke his fucking nose.Then, I pulled out our shot gun and threatened him. He went running. The cops heard and word went around town that I was out of my goddamn mind. ‘Lonnie is a good man.’ ‘He shacked up with a cook.’ I heard it all. But no one cared to know the truth. Except Hopper. And Hopper! Well, he lost his daughter and didn’t know how to cope. He slept around, so what? He drank and took pills, so fucking what? But everyone thought he was some sort of bastard. Then, Will disappears. I didn’t believe my son was dead, Hop didn’t either. And guess what, Will’s at your house right now! Crazy Joyce Byers, right? Bastard Hopper, right? Hopper was the only person to stand by me, especially these last couple years. The only person, Karen! And I didn’t deserve it after I got pregnant with Lonnie’s baby senior year while Hop and I were still dating. But he was my only source of friendship, so please, don’t come here telling me stories of how we were friends when we were young and how you know Hop’s death is killing me. I KNOW! It is killing me!” Joyce roared as tears streamed down her face.

Karen, also crying, said, “Joyce, I-”

“He left me his daughter, Karen. My only tie to Hopper left. I have to raise her in a world without him. It killed me to hear her cries this last week at night. I hold her and tell her everything is going to be okay. But it’s not. Her father is dead and my-”

“Your what, Joyce?” Karen asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” Joyce muttered.

“He was more than just a friend to you, wasn’t he?” Karen suggested.

Joyce began to weep into the palms of her hands. 

Karen rubbed her back comfortingly. “Joyce, I didn’t mean to imply anything. I’m sorry.”

Joyce looked up at Karen with bloodshot eyes and tears all over her face. “We had a date,” Joyce whimpered.

Karen frowned. “Oh, honey,” Karen consoled, as she wrapped her old friend in her embrace. 

  
  



End file.
